Measure of a Man
by StoriesAreMagic
Summary: When a woman shows up claiming to be Dr. Julien's daughter and the heir to his estate, Zane's personhood is called into question. Angst and hurt-and-comfort abound as the ninja must investigate and in the process discover how far they'll go for someone they consider family. (Takes place between S2 and S3.)
1. I don't want to believe it's over

**AN: All right, here it finally is! After like three years of trying to write this, it's here. I'm super pumped about this, you guys. All right, down to business. The fic title is from the Star Trek: the Next Generation episode of the same name (which I do not own), and some of the plot is inspired by said episode, while this chapter's title is from "Say Goodbye" by Skillet (which I also do not own). As a note, once I finish this fic I will publish two alternate endings to this fic, one somewhat more angsty and one a lot more angsty, as separate fics (I originally had four alternate endings, but two of them were just too dark for my tastes). Enjoy!**

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Dr. Julien's funeral was a very nice funeral, probably as nice as a funeral could get. There was soft and solemn music, simple decorations, and several speakers, ranging from the man's former colleagues from long ago to his creation-slash-son. The service and the following reception alike were closed to the public, allowing in only those who the old inventor had actually known, but the turnout on the streets was enormous. It almost seemed like Ninjago itself had turned out to honor the man who built one of their famous protectors. There were gatherings on almost every corner, everyone gossiping about what this might mean for Ninjago's future now that one of smartest people anyone knew of was dead and the protectors of Ninjago were in mourning.

And none mourned more or was more gossiped about than Zane, who, as the reception proceeded winding down, drew away from the few remaining guests milling about and disappeared.

Nya was the one to find him first after all but the ninja and their closest allies were gone.

"I found him!" She called out in relief, eyeing the nindroid with concern. Zane was sitting in a corner of the reception hall's backroom, knees pulled up to his chest, arms around his legs and face buried in his arms. Nya sat next to him tentatively and, when that got no response, said softly, "Hey."

Zane did not respond.

"I know you probably aren't ready to hear this, but we're here for you," Nya stated gently.

The other four ninja rushed into the small room, each coming to an abrupt stop when they saw the two sitting together. (At the back of the pack, Cole came in too quickly and, when Kai stopped, ran right into him and nearly knocked him over.)

"Oh. Uh, are we interrupting something? Is this a bad time?" Lloyd asked carefully.

Nya shook her head. "I don't think so. In fact, I think this is a very good time."

"How can you say that?" Zane's voice came muffled from behind his arms. "How can any time be good right now?"

Nya winced. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that it's good to be together when something bad happens, especially something this bad."

Zane didn't say anything else.

Nya motioned to the four standing ninja to come closer and sit, and they did, making a rough circle.

"I'm really sorry this happened," Cole offered to Zane.

"Yeah, me too," Jay affirmed.

"You know, I kind of know how you feel," Kai said softly.

That got a response. Zane's head shot up and he stared at Kai inquisitively.

"Nya and I lost our parents too," Kai explained. "But we got through it, because we had each other."

"And like we had each other, you have all of us," Nya added gently.

Zane stared off into the distance. He murmured, "For a long time, he was everything to me. Then I lost him, then I forgot him, then I remembered him and in doing so lost him again, then I found him. Now I've lost him a third time."

Lloyd made a sympathetic sound. "I don't know what to say, you know, but I want you to remember we're here for you."

Slowly, Zane nodded. "I will."

"Well, are you ready to head back to getting Darkley's turned into a real academy?" Jay asked brightly, standing and offering a hand to Zane.

Zane shook his head. "I would like to stay here a little longer."

"We'll stay with you," Cole suggested.

"I would rather be alone, thank you," Zane stated, looking down at his knees.

"If you're sure," Nya said doubtfully.

"I am sure," Zane replied.

"All right. Guess we'll head back, then," Kai said slowly, standing.

The others who were sitting by Zane stood as well and together the five friends trailed out of the room, each glancing back at least once at their brother who remained sitting.

They found Wu, walked out of the funeral home, and made their way back to the academy from New Ninjago City together, then they split apart to their tasks to refurbish Darkley's Boarding School for Great Children, formerly Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys, into the new Sensei Wu's Academy. Jay and Wu went to work in the staff lounge, Cole and Kai headed to the classrooms, Nya continued fixing up the bathrooms' mechanisms, and Lloyd went to start cleaning up the entryway. He didn't actually have to help, since he didn't plan on teaching at the school, but he liked helping his team.

Lloyd was unable to work for long, however, as the doorbell rang almost as soon as he stepped into the entryway.

"Zane, why are you using the doorbell?" Lloyd wondered aloud, heading for the door and opening it. "Feeling better-"

Lloyd stopped mid-sentence. Standing in front of him was not, in fact, Zane. Instead, in front of him was a woman with graying brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, thick black-rimmed glasses, and a briefcase in her hand. She looked vaguely familiar, but not in a way that would make Lloyd recognize her.

"Oh. Uh. Hi?" Lloyd said, uncertainty coloring the tone of his voice. He looked over his shoulder, begging internally that someone would come along and handle this so he wouldn't have to. Nobody came. Sighing inwardly, Lloyd turned back to the woman. "Um, the academy isn't open yet, if you're here to sign a kid up or something."

The woman arched an eyebrow. "Do I look like I'm here to 'sign a kid up or something?'"

"I don't know. We haven't opened the academy yet, so I haven't actually seen what someone who's here to sign a kid up looks like yet-" Lloyd's voice trailed off as the woman brushed right past him, heading into the old school. "Hey! You can't come in here!"

"Try to stop me if you want to, but I have important business with the ninja," the woman said firmly, continuing walking.

"Well, then, you should be talking to me, because I'm one of the ninja," Lloyd said just as firmly.

The woman stopped walking. She eyed Lloyd up and down. "You're wearing a suit. Not a ninja suit, an actual suit."

"There was a funeral today. A pretty important funeral, actually," Lloyd fumbled.

"I heard. That's part of why I'm here," the woman stated, and she started walking again. "So let's say you are one of the ninja. I suppose your face is familiar, but I've never really concentrated on the other ninja."

"What do you mean 'other ninja?' Wait, you're not some kind of ninja yourself, are you?" Lloyd asked, trying to keep up with her. The woman sure walked fast, like she knew exactly what she wanted and was already on her way to go get it.

"No, I meant the ninja other than the white ninja," the woman replied. She turned a corner and paused when she ended up at the end of the hallway. Not deterred for more than a moment, she turned around and began walking in a new direction. "I need to talk to the whole group."

"You know, if you really do need to talk to us ninja, I can get you to a meeting room and then go get the others and bring them there," Lloyd suggested.

"That would be lovely," the woman said, sounding like she thought it was quite the opposite of lovely.

"Here, there's a conference room right here," Lloyd told her, pulling open a door and beckoning to the woman. "If you want, you can make yourself, uh, a coffee or something, Jay and Nya always make sure that there's a way to make drinks in everything they work on."

"Thank you," the woman said flatly, stepping into the room.

Lloyd let the door close. The second the door latched shut, he rushed for the other ninja. "Guys! Something's going on!"

Kai and Cole poked their heads out of two side-by-side classrooms.

"What's going on?" Kai wondered. He held a projector reel in his hands.

"Put that down, we're having a meeting," Lloyd told him.

"Don't have to tell me twice, I'm not a fan of cleaning," Kai snorted, tossing the projector reel over his shoulder. The resulting clatter was loud and unpleasant, and Lloyd winced slightly at the noise as Kai stepped out of his classroom.

"What's the meeting about, kid?" Cole wondered, stepping out of his classroom and joining Lloyd and Kai in the hall.

"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me," Lloyd stated, heading for the staff lounge.

"Nya's calling a meeting and she wouldn't tell you what it's about?" Kai asked curiously, following him.

"No, not Nya. This woman who just rang the doorbell then came on in like she owned the place," Lloyd explained. He stuck his head into the staff lounge. "Jay! Uncle Wu!"

Jay looked up from tinkering with the fridge. "Huh?"

"What is it?" Wu asked, stepping out from behind a screen.

"We're having some kind of meeting with somebody about something," Cole said helpfully when Lloyd just turned on his heel and marched away.

"...Okay?" Jay said uncertainly, following Lloyd, Cole, and Kai away.

"Most intriguing," Wu commented, joining the group.

The five of them went down the hall and found Nya stepping out of one of the bathrooms, wiping her hands on a rag.

"Hey, sis. Want to come to a mysterious meeting with someone Lloyd just met?" Kai asked her.

Nya frowned. "What?"

"We're not clear on the details either," Jay confessed. "Lloyd won't tell us."

"Because Lloyd doesn't know," Lloyd said over his shoulder. "The woman said she wanted to talk to the whole group of us. She didn't really say anything else."

"Really? Nothing else?" Cole wondered.

"Well, she did say that she has important business with us, but that she doesn't pay much attention to any of us but Zane," Lloyd offered. He stopped in front of the conference room he had left the woman in.

"Great, a Zane fangirl," Kai groused. "This is going to be so much fun. Not."

The group of six entered the conference room and found a woman sitting at the head of a long table, papers spread in front of her.

"Have a seat," the woman instructed coolly.

"If you insist," Wu said graciously, and he took a chair on one side of the table. The others followed suit much more hesitantly.

The woman's eyes trailed across each of their faces. "I recognize each of you, only vaguely from magazine covers and newsreels and such, as I never paid much attention to the ninja except one."

"Yup, she's a Zane fangirl," Kai groaned, leaning back in his chair.

"Shhhh!" Nya hissed at him. "I think she was about to tell us what she's doing here."

Kai made a rude noise.

"Ignore him," Nya told the woman. "You were saying?"

"You're the samurai, correct?" The woman asked.

Nya smiled. "Correct, and glad to be given my dues."

"Mmm," the woman hummed. "You may as well be here for this."

"Here for what?" Nya asked.

The woman ignored her, turning to Kai. "And you're the red ninja."

Kai gave her a lazy nod. "Yup."

"The black ninja, the blue ninja, the green or gold ninja, and the sensei," the woman continued, looking at each person when she named them. Cole nodded, Jay just peered at her papers, Lloyd gave a tight smile, and Wu also nodded. The woman smiled. "Good. This should be easy enough."

"And what is 'this,' exactly?" Wu inquired, taking a sip of tea from a teacup he had pulled from seemingly nowhere.

The woman continued to smile, but she said nothing.

"Listen, if you're here to just comment on who we are, or even fangirl over who we are, we have public appearances for that," Cole stated. "Right now, we're kind of busy, and we're not in the mood to chit-chat or make small talk, what with just attending a funeral and all."

"Of course, of course," the woman said smoothly. "I'll cut right to the chase, then. I'm not here to chit-chat, make small talk, or, heaven forbid, fangirl. I'm here to make a demand you would be wise to obey, as I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine."

"What are you talking about?" Jay asked curiously, still trying to get a good look at the papers in front of the woman and nearly falling out of his chair to do so.

"Let me introduce myself," the woman stated. "My name is Azizi. Azizi Julien."

Jay did fall out of his chair at that with a loud "Ow!"

Kai sat bolt upright. "Did you say-"

"Julien?" Cole finished, eyeing the woman thoughtfully.

"She did," Nya remarked, also watching the woman. "You wouldn't happen to be a relative of the recently deceased Dr. Julien, would you?"

"I would be," Azizi said calmly. "His daughter, to be precise."

Jay climbed back into his chair and, as if nothing had happened, asked inquisitively, "You're a nindroid?"

Azizi shook her head fervently. "Of course not! I'm a real person, as real as each of you. I'm no robot. I'm Dr. Julien's biological daughter."

"Oh, man. I'm, uh, I'm sorry for your loss," Lloyd said awkwardly.

"Don't be. My father assumed I was dead and left me behind to, as I've recently found out, go off into Birchwood Forest and build robots. I have no grief for him," Azizi said calmly.

"Oh. Okay, then," Lloyd said even more awkwardly.

"Moving on. I did not attend the funeral so as to give anyone who actually knew him, as I apparently did not, time to grieve, but now that the funeral service and reception are over, I figured the present would be the best time to come and have a talk with you," Azizi explained.

"A talk about what?" Cole asked suspiciously.

"Dr. Julien left no will. I checked. So, as Dr. Julien's only legal child, I am the de facto heir to his estate," Azizi told him.

"Ah. You're wondering what he left behind," Wu realized. "Well, your father left quite a few blueprints, some books, likely the title to that tree he lived in-"

"Wait a minute, what about Zane?" Jay asked, trying again to get a look at Azizi's papers. "He's Dr. Julien's kid too."

"But not legally," Cole realized. "He was built, not born. He's got a claim to his dad's stuff, sure, but it's an emotional claim, not a legal claim."

"The claim has no bearing, and not just because the claimant isn't legally Dr. Julien's child," Azizi agreed.

"So, you'd like the books and papers?" Wu suggested.

"Not just the books and papers. As heir, I am also titled to all of his inventions," Azizi pointed out.

"I suppose so," Wu said slowly.

"That would mean that protector robot in Birchwood Forest, the little tea-serving robot in the lighthouse, maybe the falcon," Jay listed off.

"I don't care about any of those. They may stay as they are. I want my father's most important and innovative invention, the one you all pretend you don't own, the one you all act like is a person but really isn't, the one probably still at its creator's funeral since it isn't here," Azizi explained.

The others in the room froze, processing what that might imply.

"She can't mean what I think she means," Nya breathed finally.

Azizi smiled. "I mean exactly what you think I mean. I own Zane."


	2. Scared about the future and I wanna talk

**AN: You guys' reactions to that first chapter were great! I hope you find this one just as interesting as the first. Thank you to G** **uest, RandomDragon2.0, The Titan's Shadow, ABCSKW123-IX, snowflake, and Guest for reviewing.** **This chapter's title is from "Talk" by Coldplay, which I do not own.**

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The room erupted into shouts of protest.

"How could you say something like that, how?" Jay was yelling, flabbergasted.

"Zane's not a thing you can own, he's a person!" Cole was objecting loudly.

"Listen, lady, I don't care who you are, if you think you can come in here and say stuff like that about one of our team-" Kai was shouting.

"What is wrong with you?" Nya was saying at the top of her lungs.

"You think you own him? You think you've got some sort of claim to him? Then you're wrong!" Lloyd was saying with a pronounced frown.

Wu hadn't said anything yet, but he had gripped his teacup so hard it shattered, spilling tea across the table.

Amidst it all, Azizi calmly picked up her papers to avoid getting tea on them, sifted through the papers, and waited for a calm moment to speak. No such calm moment came.

Kai kept on shouting, "You've got another think coming!"

"Yeah, there's something seriously wrong with you!" Jay argued loudly, adding onto what Nya had just said.

At the same time, Nya put forward, "Don't think you're going to get away with saying something like that, because you won't."

"You're wrong, you're so wrong it isn't even funny," Lloyd said heavily.

"If you're going to make claims like that, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Wu said lightly, the edge of something dangerous in his tone.

"He's a person, he's got rights!" Cole continued objecting.

"Actually, it doesn't have rights," Azizi butted in, replying to Cole. That stopped the others.

"What do you mean, Zane doesn't have rights? Of course he does," Jay said incredulously.

"Oh no," Nya gasped. "No, he doesn't, not really."

Azizi nodded to her. "There's nothing in Ninjago law about robots having rights. In fact, the closest law that comes to dealing with robots is the one that states that an invention is the legal intellectual property of its inventor."

"But that's just because there's never been an invention like Zane before," Cole argued. "He's different, he's a person, he should have rights."

"That'll be for the court to decide," Azizi said sweetly, holding up one of her sheets of paper. "I brought this just in case you didn't act sensibly and turn your robot over to me immediately, which turned out to be a good choice after all."

Jay snatched the paper from Azizi, took one look at it, and gulped. "It's… It's a form for a lawsuit. 'Azizi Julien against the ninja, for the ownership of the ninja robot.' It doesn't even say his name!"

"Give me that!" Kai interjected, grabbing at the paper. Jay relinquished it, and Kai looked it over angrily. "This isn't right!"

"Yes, it is. I've filled it out properly and am ready to file it, unless you want to convince me otherwise by handing over the robot. After all, a lawsuit isn't exactly good publicity," Azizi explained.

"Oh, we'll convince you otherwise," Kai growled, and with that he ripped the paper right in half.

Azizi laughed, a high, tinkling sound. "You really think that'll do something? You really think that'll stop me from filing a claim?"

"...I kinda hoped so," Kai admitted.

Taking out another sheet of paper, Azizi waved it in the air. "I have multiple copies. I always come prepared when I might need to argue. It's one of my best traits."

"I'd argue it's one of your worst, right up there with saying Zane isn't a person," Cole commented, eyes locked on the new sheet of paper.

Azizi shrugged. "A matter of opinion, I suppose."

"May I see the form?" Nya requested.

"As long as you promise not to rip it up like he did," Azizi replied, jerking her head pointedly toward Kai.

"I promise," Nya stated.

Azizi handed her the form, and the others rushed to gather behind Nya's chair and look over it with her.

"I don't like it, but I've got to say, this looks like it was filled out properly," Nya admitted slowly.

"How can something claiming ownership over someone else be filled out properly?" Kai asked angrily.

Nya ignored his question and passed the form begrudgingly back to Azizi, who put it away in her briefcase and began packing away her other papers.

"So. Will you hand over the nindroid, or will I have to take this to court?" Azizi inquired, putting the last of her papers back in her briefcase.

"We'll never let you have Zane," Cole said firmly.

"Never," Lloyd agreed. "He's one of us. You won't take him. We won't let you."

"To court it is, then," Azizi sighed dramatically, closing the clasps on her briefcase. She stood and headed for the door, calling over her shoulder, "I'll show myself out, then. You'll get the court summons in a few days."

"We'll see you in court, then," Wu said heavily, sitting back down.

The door swung shut behind Azizi, and the room erupted into shouts again.

"No, this isn't happening," Cole groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"I'm gonna freak out!" Jay hyperventilated. "Oh, I am so close to freaking out. Nevermind that, I am freaking out! We're hooped! We're so hooped!"

"Students, we must remain calm, or else we risk doing something rash that will make the situation even worse," Wu warned.

At the same time, Kai proclaimed, "The next time I see that woman, I'm fighting her. Don't even try to stop me. I'm fighting her."

"She's wrong, how can she be so wrong? How is it possible for someone to miss the mark that badly?" Nya said loudly.

Lloyd was the only one to not speak loudly, but his quiet statement cut through the room better than any scream could, silencing the others. "How are we going to tell Zane?"

"Oh man," Kai breathed. "Oh, I'm not doing that."

"Dibs on also not doing that," Jay said quickly.

"I'm not doing it!" Lloyd and Cole said in unison.

Nya and Wu looked at each other wearily.

"We're doing it together," Nya told the ninja. "Nobody's getting out of this. It'll be best if we're all there for him when he finds out."

"Yeah, when he finds out someone doesn't even think he's a person and that he should be considered her property," Kai muttered. "That's not going to turn out well."

"It doesn't matter whether it turns out well. What matters is that you are there for your brother when he needs you," Wu said firmly.

"And what if he says he doesn't need us? That's how Zane handles things, he spends time on his own to figure things out," Kai argued.

"I believe this is something that Zane cannot figure out on his own. He will need our help preparing for the trial," Wu stated.

Cole shuddered. "The trial. That's going to be a nightmare, even if we win."

"What do you mean, 'even if we win?'" Jay demanded. "Don't even talk like that. We're winning this thing."

"Okay, let's say we're automatically going to win. Even then, like Azizi said, this whole thing is going to be a publicity nightmare," Cole sighed.

"But it'll be worth it for Zane," Nya pointed out.

"Of course it will be! I never said it wouldn't be. What I meant is that people are going to be all over Zane in the news and on the streets, arguing about whether he gets to be declared a person or not," Cole explained. "It's going to be really hard for him."

"Then we'll just have to make sure as much of the stuff about the trial stays out of the public eye as possible," Lloyd said determinedly.

"We should start working right now to make certain we win this," Nya suggested. "Let the work on the academy wait for a little while and focus on the trial."

"Agreed," Wu stated. "We will need to pull up as much information on robotics as possible, and likely as much information as possible on Dr. Julien as well."

"Why Dr. Julien?" Kai asked curiously.

"Any information on how he made Zane that we can get will be useful, either so that we can use it against Azizi or so that we aren't surprised when it is used against us," Wu explained.

"Good thing info on Dr. Julien shouldn't be too hard to find, what with the funeral bringing him into the spotlight and into people's minds so much," Cole offered.

"Let's get to work, then," Nya stated. She stood and walked out of the conference room, and the others followed her to the computer lab.

"Good thing this room was one of the first ones we fixed up," Jay laughed nervously, taking a seat at one of the desks. "Imagine if we had to fix up this place before getting to work on our research."

"It's a good thing you and I like tech so much," Nya remarked. "We couldn't leave a bunch of computers in a poor state. That's working to help us now."

"And to help Zane," Lloyd piped up, turning on the computer in front of him.

"What I wouldn't give for the Destiny's Bounty's computer, though," Nya sighed. "That thing was a marvel of technology, searching for information and making it look easy."

"Let's focus on what we have now and not what we don't have," Cole encouraged. "We need to get to work. The more stuff we can find sooner, the better."

The team set to work in near silence, the quiet only broken by the hum of computer monitors and the click-clack of keyboards, not to mention the occasional exclamation about a piece of information someone had found or failed to find.

"Wow, Dr. Julien was cool. He made a lot of stuff. Like, a lot."

"Do you think we can find Zane's blueprints on here?"

"Would info about the falcon help us? I'm going to say 'maybe' and do some quick looking, not much, just an overview."

"What's a CPU?"

That last one was Lloyd, wondering over a term he had just found.

"It's a Central Processing Unit," Jay offered. "It's the circuitry that carries out the operations of a device."

"I'm not sure what that means," Lloyd mused.

"It's like the brain of a computer," Nya offered helpfully.

"So Zane's CPU would probably be his brain?" Lloyd guessed, staring thoughtfully at his computer's screen.

Nya nodded, eyes scanning through the text on her own screen.

"This fanpage about us theorizes that, if Zane is really a nindroid, he must have the most advanced CPU ever made," Lloyd offers. "Could that help us?"

"Maybe. If Zane's more advanced than any invention ever made, then maybe the rules about inventions don't apply to him in the same way," Nya thought out loud.

Jay had looked up from his computer screen at Lloyd's words. "Wait, what do you mean, 'if Zane is really a nindroid?'"

"Some people don't believe that Zane's not human," Lloyd explained. "Or they do believe he's not human, but instead of believing that he's a nindroid, they think he's an alien."

"...That's weird," Jay commented.

Lloyd nodded. "Uh-huh. I mean, I can't really blame them. If I didn't know Zane was a nindroid, I wouldn't always know what to make of him either."

"But Zane is a nindroid, and that's kind of our problem right now," Nya sighed.

"How is that a problem?" Zane asked.

The six sitting in their chairs spun around to face the door. There stood Zane, tear tracks still drying on his face, waiting in the doorway.

"Zane!" Cole, Jay, Kai, Lloyd, and Nya chorused in a mix of relief and dread.

"Greetings," Zane remarked. He entered the room and peered over the shoulder of the closest of his team at their computer, in this case Cole's computer. "...Why are you looking at integrated circuit chips? I did not know you harbored an interest in microprocessors. And why would my being a nindroid be a problem?"

"Yeah, there's a simple explanation for this," Cole fumbled, looking at his teammates anxiously for help. "Uh, anyone want to give a simple explanation for this?"

"We've all suddenly developed a passion for robotics and you being a nindroid makes us jealous," Kai lied blatantly.

Zane looked at him in confusion. "...All right."

"Don't listen to Kai, he just doesn't want to tell you the truth," Nya sighed. "Zane, you should probably sit down."

"If you say so," Zane said simply, and he pulled out a chair from the desk next to Cole's and sat, looking at the rest of the group curiously.

"There's no easy way to say this," Nya said slowly. "But I'm trying to think of one. Anybody got any ideas?"

"We should just tell him flat-out," Cole suggested.

"Fine. While you were at the funeral home, this woman came by. She said her name was Azizi. Azizi," Nya paused, "Julien."

Zane blinked. "Azizi… Julien? Is this a coincidence?"

"No. At least, not according to her," Nya stated. "She said she was Dr. Julien's daughter, that he thought she died and then abandoned her to go to Birchwood Forest, the rest of which you know."

"Oh," Zane said quietly.

Jay stood up at his computer excitedly. "Not a coincidence, according to her!"

"I just said that," Nya said in confusion.

"She didn't show us any proof that she's Dr. Julien's kid. If we can prove that she's not, then the trial will be a snap. No ownership for her!" Jay exclaimed. He sat down and began tapping things out on his keyboard excitedly. Cole, Nya, Kai, Lloyd, and Wu gathered around him quickly.

Zane joined them less quickly, questioning, "What's this about a trial? Does it have anything to do with why my being a nindroid is a problem right now?"

Jay didn't answer him. Instead, Jay read aloud from a webpage, "Dr. Julien had a wife, and they did have a daughter named Azizi, but something tragic happened years and years ago."

"What kind of something tragic?" Nya asked.

"Uh, something that was really bad? It doesn't specify, it just says that Dr. Julien's wife died pretty much immediately, and Azizi's heart stopped in the hospital. So Azizi existed, but this woman can't be her," Jay said triumphantly, looking up.

"Keep reading," Lloyd said quietly, pointing at the screen.

Jay looked at the screen again. "It says that Dr. Julien ran out of the hospital and was spotted at his work gathering up blueprints. When confronted, he told a colleague that he was going to go fix things so that no one in Ninjago would ever have to hurt again. Uh, okay. After that, it says- oh."

"And after that, it says that Azizi was successfully revived in the hospital almost as soon as Dr. Julien stormed out," Lloyd read quietly. "So Azizi's story checks out. Her dad thought she died and went off to Birchwood Forest."

"And then he built Zane to protect people from tragic stuff like whatever killed his wife and like he thought killed his daughter!" Kai exclaimed, putting the pieces together. "That explains a lot."

"That explains who this Azizi is, but it does not tell me why you are all researching computers and my father's family, nor does it clarify why my being a nindroid is a problem," Zane said, his voice tinged with the most irritability any of them had heard from him, which to be fair wasn't much.

"Sorry, we got off topic," Nya apologized. "Anyway, Azizi showed up here, and she said that she was the obvious heir to your father's estate."

"So she wants his blueprints?" Zane put together.

"Uh, not exactly," Jay offered with a wince. "She kinda said she wanted his inventions, and when we said she could have that protector robot Birchwood Forest and the stuff like that, she didn't want them. She, she, uh, she-"

"She wants you," Nya said quietly. "She thinks she has the right to own you. She wants you as her property, and she's taking us to court to get you."


	3. I know they've all been talking about me

**AN: Sorry for the long wait, guys, and thanks to** **Ebony umbreon, NinjagoGeek4EVER, purplefern, toothlesturtle21, ninjafan, and The Titan's Shadow for** **reviewing. For those of you who wanted angst... Enjoy yourselves. This chapter's title is from "Unwell" by Matchbox 20, which I don't own.**

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Zane had taken the news rather well, almost in stride, at least on the outside. On the inside, none of the ninja knew how he was dealing and figured it wasn't far from good, but on the outside, he had just frowned deeply, nodded, and said, "What can I do to get ready for the trial?"

Like the others, he had gotten down to work quickly, although Zane had stopped before the rest of them, going to prepare supper. His teammates had tried to convince him to take time off from cooking, but he had waved them away, claiming that the act of cooking calmed him and helped him settle. They had let him go and then turned back to their work, muttering to each other now and then about information that might be helpful for the trial.

"Should we get a lawyer? Can we even afford a lawyer?"

"I found a case about machine sentience and rights! But, uh, it failed. Badly."

"We should make a trip to the tree Dr. Julien and Zane used to live in, there might be some good stuff there."

"Is there some kind of test to prove whether someone's sentient or not? I'd guess yes, but I can't find anything. I'll keep looking."

So it went for that evening, as well as for the next morning. They all worked hard on preparing for going to court, taking only the rarest of breaks. Then Zane, Kai, and Nya went to Birchwood Forest to look for helpful information while Lloyd, Cole, Jay, and Wu stayed at the academy-to-be to keep working. Zane, Kai, and Nya returned as quickly as possible with arms full of blueprints and books, and Lloyd, Cole, Jay, and Wu paused their computer work to help sift through the new information. Once that was dealt with, everyone returned to their computers, continuing to take notes and talk to each other.

They had information. Things were looking up. They could win this thing. All seemed well, even hopeful. That is, all seemed well until late afternoon. Jay got bored of searching and searching for information for the case and decided to take a break and check the news. What he found blazoned across the first page of the very first site he looked at made him gulp. "Oh no. Oooooh no."

"What?" Kai asked, obviously eager for a break from the monotony of research.

"What is it?" Zane asked, looking up from his computer.

"What's up, Bluejay?" Cole asked, standing up out of his chair and craning his neck to try and see Jay's screen.

"Um, nothing," Jay squeaked, covering his computer screen with both hands. "It's nothing, nothing really."

"Jay," Cole warned, walking over to the blue ninja and peering at his computer, trying to see between Jay's hands.

"What's up?" Nya asked, stepping over and joining Cole behind Jay.

Jay sighed with defeat and removed his hands. "Fine. Uh, it might be a problem."

"Oh," Nya breathed. "Oh, that's not good."

"Azizi went public. She filed the claim and went public," Cole reported to the others who weren't standing by Jay's computer. "Everybody knows about the trial, and there are, uh, some very differing opinions about it?"

"Do we want to know?" Kai said skeptically.

"Uh, yeah, we want to know," Lloyd stated as if it was obvious. "We don't want to get surprised when we head to court."

"It's not pretty," Cole warned.

"Well, some of it's nice," Nya said optimistically. "Some of the people offering their opinions think it's unbelievable that anything like this could happen. They're behind us and behind Zane all the way."

"And a lot of the people don't really care what happens. They think we should leave Azizi alone and Azizi should leave us alone and the world should keep on turning like none of this happened," Jay piped up.

"What about the not pretty stuff?" Kai asked suspiciously.

Cole, Jay, and Nya looked at Zane as one.

"I can hear it. I will be fine," Zane stated.

"Are you sure?" Cole wondered.

"I will be fine," Zane repeated insistently.

"If you say so. Well, this one guy 'Geoff Kleot' they interviewed used to think that it was impossible for Zane to be a nindroid, but now that Azizi's suing us, he thinks it's possible but that Zane shouldn't be allowed to be a ninja because he could get hacked and turned against us," Nya said hesitantly.

"This person with the screenname 'TheUselessSpirit' comments that, and I quote, 'robots shouldn't even exist, they're abominations against nature.' What are they even talking about? Robots are cool, and besides, Zane's no robot, he's a nindroid," Jay objected.

"Some woman from New Ninjago City who wanted to remain anonymous is starting a petition to get Zane dismantled and put through a trash compactor," Cole said quietly.

"'Shashi' says that they're glad someone's finally 'stopping the insanity' of 'letting a robot run wild' and if the person stopping it is the 'rightful owner of that thing,' then 'all the more power to her,' and-" Jay's voice trailed off as he turned to look at Zane.

Zane's face was as blank as a plain sheet of paper.

"You okay, buddy?" Jay asked nervously.

Zane stood from his chair, turned on his heel, and walked out of the room.

"Oh, that's not good," Jay said quietly.

"Maybe we shouldn't have read some of that," Cole mused.

Jay laughed slightly hysterically. "You think?"

"I said we probably didn't want to know, and so I'd like to point out for the record that this is, for once, not my fault," Kai said cheerfully.

"Well, it's better we found out people were saying stuff like this now so it doesn't throw us off when we go to court?" Lloyd offered hesitantly. "I mean, if we found out right before the trial, Zane would be like this during the trial, and that would be even less good than him being like this right now. Probably. I think."

"We should go talk to him, make sure he's okay," Cole worried.

"Make sure he's okay? We just read comments from people who want him taken apart; he's not okay, how could he be okay?" Jay objected.

Wu stood from his computer, picking up his staff from where he had balanced it next to him as he worked. "I will go check on him. The rest of you should return to work."

"Yes, Sensei," Kai, Nya, Cole, Jay, and Lloyd chorused, returning to their computers.

Wu headed out of the computer lab, thinking quickly. Where would Zane have gone? The gardens out front? The bedrooms toward the back? The library?

As he walked through the halls, he heard a quiet sound, the clink of measuring cups. Wu laughed a little to himself. Of course! Heading right for the kitchen, Wu peeked on in.

Zane was standing with his back to the door, forcefully kneading a ball of dough with both hands and staring out the window above the counter.

Gently, Wu tapped his staff against the ground thrice.

"I am fine," Zane said automatically without turning around.

"You are not fine," Wu said calmly, closing the door behind him.

Zane whirled around, wiping his flour-covered hands on his purple polka-dot apron. "Sensei Wu! I apologize, I must admit I was expecting Jay or Cole."

"No need to apologize," Wu said briskly, walking over to the counter and peering down at the lump of dough. "What are you making?"

"I actually do not know," Zane admitted. He looked down at the dough ball. "I suppose this could be buns, or breadsticks, or the outside of a calzone."

"What do you want it to be?" Wu asked.

Zane looked at him askance. "You did not follow me to ask me for what purpose I was making dough."

Wu chuckled. "Correct. But I didn't want to push you to talk before you were ready. Are you ready?"

Sighing, Zane resumed kneading the dough. "...No. However, I doubt I will ever be ready, so we may as well talk."

"If you insist," Wu responded.

A small sound, like a squeak or a scuffle, issued from just outside the door.

Wu and Zane both ignored it.

"What troubles you?" Wu asked.

"Nearly everything about this situation troubles me," Zane answered readily. "The fact that there is someone who wishes to separate me from my family troubles me. The fact that there are people out there who do not even know me who wish me harm troubles me. The fact that my brothers, sister, and sensei must do extra work to keep me out of the hands of those who seek to do damage to me troubles me. I must say, many things trouble me currently."

"But what troubles you most?" Wu prodded.

Zane thought about that. "Perhaps all that could go wrong is what troubles me most."

Wu hummed in acknowledgement but said nothing else.

"It vexes and confuses me that Azizi looks at me and sees not a being but a thing, and it furthermore worries me that, depending on what a court may say, I may no longer be considered a person but instead property," Zane continued, kneading the dough more ferociously.

"We won't let that happen," Wu said immediately.

Zane sighed, turning away from the dough and toward his master momentarily. "Unfortunately, it is not up to you. It is up to the court, and it is the court we must somehow convince that I am, in my own way, aware and alive."

"And in your own way, you certainly are, of that I have no doubts," Wu said warmly.

Zane took out a clean towel and began unfolding it and folding it over and over again. "I must admit, sometimes I do have doubts. Am I aware? Yes, I am aware of what goes on around and inside of me. Am I alive? Insofar as I am alert and active and not deceased, yes. Am I sentient? Am I more than what my code dictates me to be? Am I in control of myself more so than my own mechanisms are in control of me? Those are questions to which I have no answer."

Wu smiled. "In a way, those are questions to which none of us have answers. In the same way you are made of code and mechanisms, the rest of us are made of synapses and neurons. You make decisions based on what is working inside of you, so do human beings. You wonder whether you are truly in control of yourself and your destiny, as do the rest of us. In a manner of speaking, the only thing separating your experience as a nindroid from, say, Lloyd's experience as a human is of what we are made."

"That is a large thing to separate us," Zane pointed out, covering the dough with the towel.

"In some ways yes and in some ways no," Wu said lightly. "Your father created you. Lloyd's father and mother created him. Is there such a difference there?"

"There is to some people," Zane said softly.

"But is there such a difference to the people that matter, to your family?" Wu pressed.

Zane considered that silently. "No. To my family, there is no difference. They do not care about what I am made of, but instead they care about who I am."

"Then there you have it. It doesn't matter what you're made of, it matters who you make yourself to be, and your family knows that," Wu said warmly.

"Thank you, Sensei," Zane said gratefully, nodding his head. "I think that will be what I focus on for now."

"And if you ever need help focusing, tell me, and I will do my best to oblige," Wu stated. Quietly, he tilted his head toward the door and raised his eyebrows.

Zane nodded.

Wu grinned. He walked silently to the door and with one swift motion pulled it open.

In fell Nya, Lloyd, Kai, Jay, and Cole in a heap on the floor.

"It looks like a few other someones need help focusing," Wu said lightly.

"We were worried!" Jay sputtered, trying to push himself up off of the floor but failing under the weight of his friends. "Kai, get off me! Get off!"

"As soon as Lloyd and Nya get off of me, I'll do it," Kai panted. "Ow, Lloyd, that's my foot you're trying to stand on! Stand up somewhere else!"

"I'm being crushed," Cole said plainly from somewhere beneath Jay's torso.

"You have super strength, you can take it. The rest of us don't, so just wait your turn to get up and be grateful you're not as squished as I am," Jay groaned, pushing feebly at Kai's arms pinning him down.

Having been on top and thus had the easiest time untangling herself from the pile of eavesdroppers, Nya gently pulled Lloyd to the side so he wasn't stepping on Kai anymore and helped Kai up, then got Jay up with Lloyd's help. (Cole waved away the assistance and popped back up on his own.)

"Don't mind us," Cole laughed awkwardly, then he paused and said in shock, "Whoa. Zane, you're smiling! I haven't seen you do that in what feels like weeks."

"I suppose I am smiling," Zane said, sounding mildly surprised but continuing to smile.

The eavesdroppers grinned at each other. It may not have been their original mission to get Zane smiling with their actions, but they would count it as mission accomplished.


	4. Lay down a list of what is wrong

**AN: This chapter's title is from "How to Save a Life" by The Fray, which I don't own. Have fun trying to figure out the names I gave the minor characters, they all have meanings! (Hint: most of them relate to the history of robotics and artificial intelligence in real life and in fiction.) I don't own anything the names are from.**

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The trial date was announced first by a notice left in the to-be Sensei Wu's Academy's mailbox by the ever-longsuffering mailman, then the next day it appeared in newspapers and news shows across Ninjago. Azizi was holding nothing back, appearing at press conferences practically every day and each time spouting rhetoric about how dangerous it was to "have a robot on the loose" and how Ninjago couldn't return to normal until her "father's invention was back in safe hands."

Even though the others tried to persuade him to go cook or read or meditate or do something else, anything else, Zane watched every press conference on television alongside Cole, Nya, Lloyd, Jay, Kai, and Wu. When Kai fumed over the injustice of the whole situation, when Nya and Jay objected to the inaccuracies in the speeches, when Cole and Lloyd tried to console the others with how certain it was that they'd win the case, and when Wu spat his tea across the room in surprise at a particularly inflammatory statement, Zane just sat in silence, mulling over Azizi's latest words thoughtfully.

After one such televised press conference, one that had gotten particularly grim as Azizi had talked about how confident she was that suing the ninja was the best thing for Ninjago, Kai had gotten so mad he started pacing back and forth across the room, yelling about how terrible of a person Azizi was. "She's awful! She's so awful! How can she say such things? Wasn't she paying attention when we saved Ninjago over and over again?"

"Apparently not enough attention," Nya declared, resting her chin unhappily on her hand.

"She thinks Zane's dangerous? He's helped save the world from danger countless times!" Kai maintained. "From Lord Garmadon, from the Skulkin, from the various Serpentine tribes, from the Great Devourer-"

"You don't have to tell us, we were there," Jay objected. "Tell Azizi and the court."

"Oh, I intend to," Kai said dangerously, punching his fist into his other hand. "I intend to tell the world, because apparently the world hasn't been seeing things clearly!"

While Kai continued ranting, Cole leaned over and asked Zane, "Still sure you want to watch every press conference with us?"

"I am sure," Zane said calmly. "The more we know, the better off we will be in court."

"Yeah, the better off 'we' will be. Not you specifically, 'we.' We already decided Nya's going to argue the case since she has the best grasp on Ninjago law, you don't need to hear this stuff. You shouldn't have to hear her say that stuff about you," Cole said convincingly.

"I would rather hear it now than hear it on the way to the courthouse and be thrown off-balance before appearing before the judge," Zane stated.

"You think we're going to hear it on the way to the courthouse?" Cole wondered.

"I am certain we will hear it on the way to the courthouse," Zane said with a sigh.

Cole grimaced. "You're probably right, but I hope you're wrong."

Unfortunately, Zane was right.

On the morning of the trial, Cole peered out the window of the academy's front door. "Whoa. That's a lot of people just waiting around on the sides of the street."

"Lemme see," Lloyd said, and he peeked over Cole's shoulder. "Huh. I agree, whoa."

"Is that Dareth?" Cole asked, squinting. "The one with the really big sign?"

"No, that's Rufus MacAllister, I'm pretty sure. See, Dareth's the one leaning against the bus," Lloyd pointed out. "I didn't recognize him at first either. He's all fancy, and he's wearing a real suit instead of his pretend brown ninja suit."

"Oh yeah, he's helping testify," Cole remembered. "It'll probably make a better impression on the judge if he's dressed nicely. I bet Nya told him that and that's why he's all gussied up."

"Gussied up?" Lloyd echoed.

Cole laughed. "Sorry. It means 'dressed fancily.' It's something my dad likes to say."

"Speaking of your dad, is that him and the other Royal Blacksmiths waiting by the bus?" Lloyd asked, gesturing.

Cole looked closer. "Yup! Guess he was able to get them out of the event they had at that market. I know he really wanted to come and do anything he could do to help."

"And there's Jay's mom and dad next to them!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Jay, get over here! Your parents are here!"

"So are yours," Cole told Lloyd as Jay joined them at the window.

"I don't think I've ever seen my mom and dad dressed up like that before," Jay marvelled, looking out at the crowd. "I mean, my dad doesn't have a single stain on his clothes, not that I can see from here, at least."

"Is Edna wearing a skirt? I think she is," Lloyd commented, peering at the woman.

"She's probably got pants on under it, knowing my mom. Look, Misako's in a dress," Jay pointed out. "And Sensei Garmadon is wearing a suit."

"It's still weird to call him 'Sensei' instead of 'Lord,'" Kai remarked, joining the group at the window and squishing his way in to the front. "It's like a, it's like a-"

"Paradigm shift?" Nya suggested, not even trying to see out the window as she took note of how squished the four ninja looked all trying to peer out at the crowd at once.

"I guess? I'm not entirely sure what that means," Kai admitted, looking back at his sister.

"It's an important change that occurs when the usual way of thinking about something gets turned into a new and different way of thinking about the same thing," Nya explained. "It's technically supposed to be used when talking about science, but people have used it for other things too. "

"Got it. Yeah, it's like a paradigm shift," Kai agreed.

"Is everyone ready?" Wu asked, entering the room. The elderly man looked strange in his formal suit, as he hadn't even worn one for the funeral.

"Yeah, everyone's ready," Kai answered.

"Yeah, everyone except Zane," Cole pointed out. "Where is he?"

"I am coming," Zane's voice called into the entryway, and a moment later Zane himself appeared in the doorway to the little room.

"All right, now everyone's ready," Cole said with satisfaction. "Let's do this."

Cole opened the door, and the group of seven stepped out.

Immediately, the crowd, the yelling of which had been coming into the entryway muffled, quadrupled in volume. Everyone was shouting, but what they were shouting varied greatly from yells of encouragement and admiration to, yes, threats on if the ninja "managed" to win the case and statements about how Zane shouldn't count as a person.

"Ignore them, get to the bus!" Wu commanded loudly.

The seven strode forward, heads held high. The crowd stayed back behind the gate of Sensei Wu's Academy, so it was easy to get to the small bus within the gate as long as the ninja didn't listen too closely to the comments being screamed at them.

As they neared the bus, their allies smiled at them.

"Ready to win this thing?" Dareth asked confidently, flashing a smile.

"More than ready," Kai answered, grinning back.

"Born ready," Nya stated, straightening out the jacket of her pantsuit.

Cole greeted his dad and the other Royal Blacksmiths while Jay gave his parents a hug.

"Going to court is a very different sort of battle. I hope you're prepared," Sensei Garmadon commented to Lloyd.

"I'm prepared. We've all been preparing since the moment we found out about Azizi," Lloyd promised.

Garmadon patted his son on the back. "Then I look forward to getting to watch you fight for your friend and not having to fight you myself this time."

"There's no need to bring that up now," Misako chided gently. "They need to think about the fight in the present right now, not fights from the past."

"Right, of course," Garmadon agreed.

"Let's do this," Cole said again, pulling away from his dad and heading for the door to the small bus. Everyone else followed, jostling each other accidentally now and again as they settled in on the bus.

As soon as everyone had a seat and Nya began carefully driving down the road, Lou stated, "The Royal Blacksmiths would be happy to provide driving music if anyone would like it."

"We'd like it, but we need to go over our case one more time," Cole said hesitantly. "Sorry, Dad. This is too important for us to even have a chance of messing up."

Lou nodded understandingly. "We get it. I suppose we'll just have to wait to perform for the victory party afterward."

Cole laughed. "Now that, I'd like that even more."

The ninja practiced their speeches and reviewed their information all the way to the little courthouse just outside of New Ninjago City. Their case had been given to Judge Rhada Manthus, who was apparently known as a relatively fair judge according to Jay's research. (Azizi had requested a judge over a jury; according to more of Jay's research, juries were more likely to be swayed by emotional claims and judges were more likely to, well, judge based on prior laws rather than current facts, something that might work in Azizi's favor.) It was scheduled to be a single-day case, a rarity in Ninjago as most cases took an average of three to five days to be tried, but Azizi's legal consultants had pushed for it and the judge had agreed to one long day of trial instead of several shorter days. All they had to do was wait for Azizi to make her case, cross-examine the people she had testify, make their own case, let Azizi cross-examine if she wished, and make their closing statements. It would be simple. It would be quick. It would be easy. That was what Nya claimed, and that was what her friends chose to believe.

That is, it would be simple, quick, and easy if they could actually get into the courthouse.

Nya leaned on the horn, but to little effect. The swarm of people, which had been, incredibly, increasing as they got closer to the courthouse, blocked the road.

"Well, I guess we're parking here," Nya sighed, turning the wheel and parking the small bus on the side of the road. "All right, people. This is it. You know what to do."

Everyone stood, looking at each other awkwardly.

Nya opened the bus doors and was nearly bowled over backward by wave of sound. It was like all of Ninjago was saying different things in different emotions as one, and it was impossible to pick out any of the words.

"Go, go, go!" Nya said at the top of her lungs, barely audible over the shouting of the crowd. "Go!"

The ninja and their friends scrambled out of the bus, dodging random yelling pedestrians and heading in a beeline for the courthouse. They struggled up to the doors. Cole forced said doors open and everyone else streamed in. Dashing in behind them, Cole slammed the doors behind himself. Breathing heavily, he leaned against the doors and remarked lightly, "That was an experience."

"No time to make snarky comments, the crowd made me drive slower. If we don't hurry, we're going to be late!" Nya warned, running down the hallway.

The others followed her down winding corridors, minding the signs that proclaimed which rooms were where.

"There!" Kai yelled, pointing at a pair of doors which proclaimed themselves to be the entrance to Courtroom 5.

The group screeched to a stop in front of the doors.

"Everyone prepared?" Nya said casually.

"Out of breath, but prepared," Jay wheezed.

"Good. We'll have to be," Nya said darkly, and she pushed the doors open and strode in confidently.

The rest of the group followed her, filing into the seats on the side of the room behind the table marked "defendant" and looking around.

"It's her," Zane murmured, looking across to the other side of the room, which was marked "plaintiff."

At the plaintiff table sat a single woman, looking at something on a piece of paper intently. Behind her sat a line of men and women, each with a white lab coat over their professional clothing, all whispering to each other. Their whispering picked up in speed and volume as the ninja and their allies entered, but the lone woman didn't make any sign she'd noticed them coming in.

"Yeah. That's her. Azizi Julien," Lloyd whispered, making a face.

Zane hummed thoughtfully, taking a seat at the defendant table next to Nya. He kept looking at the woman, staring, really.

"Thinking something?" Nya asked him, spreading the papers she had written her case on across the table.

"Of course," Zane replied.

Nya smiled. "I mean, what are you thinking?"

"I am thinking about if things had been different. I know I should not be considering what-ifs at a moment like this, but seeing her in person for the first time made me think of something. If things had gone differently, she would have been my older sister. I could have had a mother and an older sister," Zane said softly.

Nya's smile turned sad. "But you don't have a sister."

"I do not have a sister," Zane agreed. His voice was melancholy at best. "Instead, I have a prosecutor."

"But you've got us," Nya reminded him, determination filling her voice. "And we're going to get you through this."

Zane nodded and gave a tight smile.

A man entered the room from a door behind the little table where the stenographer sat, the witness stand, and the tall desk that was to seat the judge. In a droning voice, he proclaimed, "All rise for the honorable Judge Manthus."

Everyone stood.

Into the room through the same door came a man dressed in long robes who sat behind the tall table. He banged a gavel on a small piece of wood. "You may be seated."

Everyone sat.

"Stand, sit, stand, sit. Is this a game of Simon Says or a courtroom?" Lloyd muttered to Kai, who stifled a snicker.

"Judge Manthus, now presiding over the case of Julien versus," the droning man paused, "The ninja? Why are the ninja being prosecuted against?"

"That will be all, Louvois," Judge Manthus sighed.

The droning man gave a sharp nod and, turning on his heel, strode out through the door from whence he came.

"The plaintiff may now make their opening statement," Judge Manthus stated.

Azizi stood and cleared her throat. "Your Honor, the case before you is simple. I stand here today to gain the right to what is lawfully mine: my father's invention. The ninja stand here today to deceive you and me, to stop the due process of the law, and to claim that a machine can be human, which I will show is clearly not the case. Thank you."

Sitting back down, Azizi flashed a confident grin to the ninja.

"Thank you. The defendant may now make their opening statement," Judge Manthus declared.

"Your Honor, the plaintiff wishes you to believe that today you are seeing a simple case of property dispute," Nya began, standing up. "This is untrue; what you are really seeing is a complex case discussing what it means to be alive in Ninjago. Today I will show you that one does not need to be human to be a person. Thank you."

"Thank you. Prosecution, call your first witness or submit your first piece of evidence," Judge Manthus stated calmly as Nya sat back down.

"The plaintiff submits to the stand a copy of the Ninjago Contraptions and Contrivances Act," Azizi declared, standing and picking up two laminated pieces of paper. She walked forward and held them up so that the judge could peer down at them. "It states that any invention is the total intellectual and physical property of its inventor. The plaintiff also submits to the stand a copy of the Improved Inheritance Law, which states that any property of a person who passes on without a filed will becomes the property of said person's line of legal heirs, first the person's spouse, then said person's children."

"The bench recognizes the evidence," Judge Manthus confirmed.

"As you have been notified, my name is Azizi Julien. My father was the famed Dr. Julien. His wife, my mother, passed on many years ago, and my father passed on not long ago. With that being said, legally and logically any property of his is now mine," Azizi explained. She paused, seemingly just for effect.

"Continue," Judge Manthus said after a few moments.

"To prove that the nindroid Dr. Julien invented, the one you see sitting in front of you today, counts as property, I would like to call my first witness," Azizi stated. "The prosecution calls Dr. Hector Babbage to the witness stand."

One of men from the line of people behind the plaintiff's desk stood and shuffled forward to the witness box, sitting in the chair gingerly.

"Dr. Babbage, you are one of Ninjago's leading experts in artificial intelligence, correct?" Azizi asked, striding back and forth in front of the judge.

"That is correct," Dr. Babbage affirmed in a reedy voice.

"Please explain to the honorable Judge Manthus what you explained to me regarding the past and future of artificial intelligence," Azizi stated.

"In my experience, the past research on artificial intelligence has been focused on creating something lifelike, something that would pass tests the way a human would. However, scientists have lately been discouraged about this prospect," Dr. Babbage answered. "The evidence for the human ability to create a machine that truly acts like a human is lacking to say the least."

"So you would say that it's impossible to create an artificial intelligence that is indistinguishable from a person?" Azizi asked sharply.

"Objection! She's leading the witness," Nya called out.

"Objection sustained," Judge Manthus agreed. "The question is disallowed."

"Apologies. Continue with your witness on the future of artificial intelligence," Azizi said almost courteously.

"As far as I can tell, the most realistic future for artificial intelligence would not be the impossible creation of imitation of humans," Dr. Babbage continued, "but rather the sort of deep-learning that could be used to create cars that drive themselves and doctor's aids that use cognitive computing to find patterns in diseases."

"Thank you," Azizi told him. "You may step down."

"The defense would like to cross-examine," Nya stated, standing eagerly. She walked past Azizi to the front of the room. "Dr. Babbage, what did you know of Dr. Julien?"

"Little to nothing. Our paths never really crossed," Dr. Babbage admitted, shooting a glance at Azizi. "I know he was incredibly intelligent and talented, but not much else."

"Do you happen to know the nickname he was given in the scientific community?" Nya asked.

Slowly, Dr. Babbage nodded. "Yes."

"What was Dr. Julien's nickname?" Nya pressed.

"'The man who could create the impossible,'" Dr. Babbage stated quietly.

Nya smiled and repeated, "'The man who could create the impossible.' Thank you, Dr. Babbage. You may step down."

As Dr. Babbage headed back to his seat, Azizi scowled at Nya, who was passing her on her way back to her seat, and said sulkily, "The prosecution calls Dr. Glados Yan to the stand."

A short woman with long, straggly hair stepped forward and into the witness box.

"Dr. Yan, what is your specialty?" Azizi asked, smoothing her face back into professionalism.

"My specialty is ethics and philosophy, specifically the treatment of minorities in today's society," Dr. Yan answered readily.

"What is your opinion on robots as lifeforms?" Azizi quizzed her.

Dr. Yan sat up straighter. "As a robot is an artificially-constructed being, it cannot, by definition, be a lifeform."

"Could treating a robot as lesser than a person be construed as discrimination?" Azizi asked.

Dr. Yan shook her head vehemently. "No. Never. Not by the law and not by any ethical standard I can think of except overt sentimentality."

"Thank you, Dr. Yan. You may step down," Azizi said with a smile.

"The defense has no questions for this witness," Nya said, wincing slightly.

"The prosecution calls Dr. Maximilian Maddox to the stand," Azizi stated.

A man in a blue and black striped shirt came up to the front and seated himself in the witness box.

"Dr. Maddox, you work in cybernetics, correct?" Azizi asked.

"Affirmative," Dr. Maddox responded.

"Can you give us a brief explanation of cybernetics and how it differs from the study of artificial intelligence?" Azizi questioned.

"Indeed. Both studies of cybernetics and studies of artificial intelligence focus on getting the best results, but what the term 'results' means differs between the two. Artificial intelligence wants functioning models as illustrations for how well their studying is working. Cybernetics, on the other hand, wants to understand the capabilities and incapabilities of any system be it biological, technical, or theoretic. Artificial intelligence scientists use machines as their results whereas cyberneticists use descriptions as their results," Dr. Maddox explained.

"If you were to be given complete control to study the machine currently serving as the white ninja, how would you use cybernetics to benefit Ninjago during its study?" Azizi asked.

"Objection!" Nya called out again, standing. "What is the relevance of this question?"

"The honorable Judge Manthus needs to know what his ruling will do for everyone," Azizi said coolly.

"Objection overruled," Judge Manthus commented. "Continue the line of questioning."

Nya sat down, leaning back in her chair angrily. Zane patted her hand comfortingly.

"If you were to be given complete control to study the machine currently serving as the white ninja, how would you use cybernetics to benefit Ninjago during its study?" Azizi repeated her question to Dr. Maddox.

Dr. Maddox paused as if to think about it, although his answer came well-rehearsed. "I would observe as it was disassembled and reassembled, and I would put it through tests to determine its capabilities and in what ways it could serve Ninjago. My colleagues and I have come up with a list of ways advanced robots could be utilized in different fields: firefighters, electric power line repairpeople, roofers, miners, lumberjacks, the list goes on and on."

"Thank you, Dr. Maddox. The prosecution rests," Azizi said smugly.

"The defense would like to cross-examine," Nya butted in, standing up. "Dr. Maddox, why would you use robots for these fields?"

Dr. Maddox blinked. "Because robots can feel neither pain nor emotions, of course. I listed some of the most dangerous and stressful jobs in the world. Robots would be ideal for minimizing the distress caused to people."

"Minimizing the distress caused to people. Do you believe that a robot can be a person?" Nya asked point blank.

"No," Dr. Maddox said simply.

"And you already said you believe robots can feel neither pain nor emotion. Would these qualities be necessary for being a person in your definition of personhood?" Nya questioned.

"Yes. The ability to feel pain, the ability to feel emotion, the ability to be aware of one's own actions, the ability to be aware of situations and react accordingly, and the ability to have personal growth," Dr. Maddox listed off. "Those five main qualities make a person a person."

"Thank you, Dr. Maddox. You may step down," Nya said cordially. She turned around and grinned at her friends, who grinned back. They had gotten exactly what they had wanted and planned to get out of Azizi's witness.

"If the plaintiff is done, we will move on to the defendant," Judge Manthus stated.

"The plaintiff is done. You may move on to the defendant," Azizi affirmed smugly.

"The defense may now make their case. Submit your first piece of evidence or call your first witness," Judge Manthus said.

"Your Honor, we all heard Dr. Maddox's definition of a person, and we all heard Azizi Julien refer to Zane Julien as property. To prove that Zane counts as a person under the definition the prosecution is using and that he does not count as property, I would like to call my first witness," Nya explained.

Nya called witness after witness. Kai told the judge how Zane had passed for human so well that Zane himself had been surprised when he discovered the truth of his origins; Jay testified to how emotional Zane had gotten when after flipping his memory switch. Cole spoke about times on mission when Zane had gotten hurt and reacted nearly identically to the way a human would; Lloyd discussed times Zane had correctly analyzed situations and responded. Wu shared insight on how he had seen Zane's growth as a person throughout the time they had known each other; Dareth gave a series of anecdotes that only rarely veered off-topic about Zane's helpfulness as a ninja and as a person. Azizi sat and stewed in silence, not raising a single objection.

Finally, Nya said, "I would like to call my final witness. The defense calls Zane Julien to the stand."

"Objection!" Azizi called out before Zane could even stand up. "The robot commonly known as the nindroid has no status as a person under the law and therefore it cannot give witness."

"Zane's status as a person under the law is being argued for and he should be allowed to give witness as to his own capacities," Nya said, having been expecting this line of refusal but not expecting the judge to rule on her side.

"Objection sustained," Judge Manthus stated.

Nya sighed as she returned to her seat. "All right. Then the defense has no further witnesses, Your Honor."

"The prosecution may now make their closing statement," Judge Manthus said.

Azizi stood and stalked to the front of the room. "Your Honor, I have made my case eloquently and thoroughly. Under the law, the robot the ninja are claiming to be a person is simple property, and my property at that, due to inheritance and invention laws. It is clear to see the proper course of action. Thank you."

Azizi sat back down, flashing a confident smirk at the defense side of the room.

"Thank you. The defense may now make their closing statement," Judge Manthus declared.

"Your Honor, the case in front of you has been cracked open. By the prosecution's witness's own testimony on what makes a person, Zane Julien qualifies as a person even though he is not human. You must make the right choice to uphold and expand personhood under the law. Thank you," Nya proclaimed as she stood before taking her seat once more.

Judge Manthus nodded. "Thank you. The court will now take a short recess as I make my decision."

The judge left the room in a swish of robes and the remaining occupants of the courtroom broke out into chatter.

"Oh, you did so well, Nya!" Edna squealed.

"Thank you, Mrs. Walker," Nya stated. "To be honest, I wasn't sure if I did okay. My heart's beating about twice as fast as it should be right now from nervousness."

"You did more than okay, I'm sure of it," Edna comforted.

"It stinks that Zane didn't get to testify. That could've really helped us," Lloyd commented, sounding downcast.

"I am sure that all will turn out for the best regardless," Wu replied.

At that moment on the other side of the courtroom, Azizi loudly announced to the line of people behind her desk, "Just one short court recess and that thing will be back in the right hands, our hands."

Kai glared at her across the room and spat, "You wish. Just you wait, Zane's going to stay in the right hands: his own hands."

"No need to tell her, Kai, she'll see soon enough," Cole said with a little laugh.

Kai nodded, but he continued glaring at Azizi throughout the recess even as he chatted with his friends and their families.

After what felt like only a minute but also several days, the droning man from before, Louvois, came in through the door behind the judge's bench and announced, "All rise for the honorable Judge Manthus."

As everyone rose to their feet, Judge Manthus came in behind Louvois and stepped into the judge's bench, seating himself.

"You may be seated," Louvois droned.

The occupants of the courtroom seated themselves, not sparing a glance toward Louvois, who was already exiting the room. All of their eyes were on Judge Manthus, awaiting his decision.

"In the case of Azizi Julien versus the ninja, the court finds in favor of-" Judge Manthus began.

Everyone leaned forward, ears straining, eyes widening, hearts hoping beyond hope for two incredibly different outcomes.


	5. Gonna come back and take you home

**AN: Here is the first of three endings, this one being the "canon" one, as the other two are alternate endings and will be published as separate stories very soon. (Or not so soon, depending on how fast I can get them ready. :P) Also, catch the "Tick Tock" reference if you can. Thank you for all of your support for this story! This chapter's title is from "Clocks" by Coldplay, which I do not own.**

* * *

"The ninja!" Judge Manthus declared.

The room exploded with shouts of elation and vexation.

"We did it! We did it!" Lloyd proclaimed.

"In your face, Azizi!" Kai yelled.

Nya was at a loss for words but not for actions. She grabbed Zane and wrapped him up in a hug, grinning all the while.

"No! It can't be! No, noooo!" Azizi shrieked.

"I'm not finished!" Judge Manthus said loudly over the chaos.

The room quieted for the most part.

"The court finds in favor of the ninja. Zane Julien, although not human, is a person in the eyes of the law and has all the rights and claims that go along with such a title. He and Azizi Julien will come to an agreement as to splitting up their father's property. Azizi will cease and desist in her attempt to gain ownership over Zane, and Zane shall continue to be free to operate as a ninja. This concludes the court's decision," Judge Manthus explained. Unceremoniously, he stepped down from the bench and exited the room.

The ninja and their friends and families flooded the courtroom floor, surrounding the defendant's desk and crowding around Zane and Nya in a loud, bustling rush of congratulations and declarations that they had never doubted the ninja would win, not for a second.

After several minutes of this, Zane freed himself from the group hug with which the other ninja had swarmed him. He glanced across to where Azizi sat in shocked silence on the other side of the courtroom with the line of people behind whispering to each other in hushed tones. He cocked his head to one side, then he nodded to himself.

"Excuse me for a moment?" Zane asked his friends.

Nya and Wu glanced at each other in confusion.

"Uh, sure," Kai said hesitantly.

"Where are we excusing you to?" Lloyd asked.

Zane didn't reply; instead, he began walking across the courtroom.

"Hey! Zane! Where are you going?" Jay yelled after him.

"What is he doing?" Cole wondered, mystified.

Zane stopped in front of the plantiff's desk. Gently, he said, "Greetings."

Azizi, who had been staring blankly down at her papers spread across her desk, jumped and looked up. "Oh! Uh, greetings. Why are you talking to me?"

"Well, we have never officially met, and the fact that you sued my friends does nothing to change the fact that you are my father's daughter," Zane said, getting to the point.

"No, I'm my father's daughter. You're no child of Dr. Julien," Azizi said firmly.

Zane shook his head. "Legally, I am now. We are both the children of Dr. Julien. We should not let our differences or our rough beginning get between us. I would like to make things up with you."

"Make things up with me?" Azizi echoed harshly. "Make up for the fact that I won't be getting to take you apart, you mean."

"That is exactly what I mean," Zane said lightly.

Azizi shook her head exaggeratedly. "What are you even doing over here? I just tried to get permission to own you. What you are after? What motivation could you possibly have to be saying this?"

"My father recently died. Although my friends are my family in every way that matters, I still wish to have every connection possible with my original family. That includes you," Zane stated. "I would like to become, if not friends, then tentatively amiable acquaintances."

Azizi hesitated. "...Dr. Julien essentially abandoned me to build you. I have no reason to have any possible positive feelings for you."

"Dr. Julien believed you were dead. Furthermore, you yourself just said you tried to get permission to own me. I have no reason to have any possible positive feelings toward you," Zane pointed out. "But I would like to try."

"I-" Azizi paused. "I don't know what to say."

"Then say nothing. Just think about it," Zane told her. Without further ado, he turned and walked back to his friends, leaving Azizi staring off into space thoughtfully.

"Frosty! What were you doing over there?" Cole said immediately as soon as Zane rejoined the group, who had been staring after him.

"Could you not hear what we said?" Zane questioned.

"We heard it, we just don't believe it," Jay stammered. "You reached out to Azizi, the same Azizi who just made us go through this whole trial thing and almost got you dismantled."

"But I am fine," Zane pointed out. "In the end, nothing negative happened except the fact that we spent a while preparing for this case instead of preparing the academy, which is regrettable, but which cannot be helped now. It all turned out fine."

Nya laughed a little and shook her head. "I've gotta admit, he's got a point."

"Whatever. You can do what you want, Zane, you're your own person. Just don't expect me to become 'friends' with her," Kai huffed. He gave Azizi the "I'm watching you" gesture, which she didn't notice because she was still staring at nothing dazedly.

"Enough of thinking about her, let's get out of here!" Lloyd declared feveredly. He started walking out of the courtroom and all of the ninja, their friends, and their families followed him out to the steps of the courthouse.

As soon as Zane stepped out of the courthouse, the chatter from the crowd rose to a fever pitch. After several moments of staring at the screaming crowd in confusion, the ninja team were able to make out one question being repeated above the rest.

"What happened?" Voice after voice demanded.

Nya grabbed one of Zane's hands in one of her own and thrust the pair of their hands in the air in a classic victory pose.

The crowd roared. A few people began to slip away sheepishly, seemingly ashamed by their previous screams for Azizi to win the case, but in general the crowd cheered and stayed put, celebrating the ninja's triumph.

"C'mon, guys. Let's go have that victory party," Nya declared.

They piled into the small bus which Nya drove away.

The victory party that followed as soon as the group returned to the academy was both wild and wildly entertaining. There was singing, dancing, and much congratulating. They played games, they told stories, and they laughed quite a lot. It was incredible for all those who participated, and it was well-known afterward that Zane Julien's celebration was a very awesome celebration, probably as awesome as a celebration could get.


End file.
